Lucknow: With the passage of time from the Vedic to the modern age, Sanskrit has been lost somewhere in the labyrinth of various modern phenomena.

In a bid to revive this great Indian language, a Sanskrit learning workshop is currently underway in Lucknow, which helps its participants speak and understand the language. Organised by a local Non- Government Organisation (NGO), the 11-day workshop is being attended by students and working professionals alike who say the language helps them have a closer look at the Indian culture.

"There are a lot of benefits of learning Sanskrit language. It affects our personality a lot. These days we are getting impressed with the western culture. By reading literature written in Sanskrit language, we get to know about the Indian culture and how should we lead our lives. Once the citizens are aware of the ideal way of leading their lives, the country is bound to progress," said Sneha Lata, a participant.

The workshop, which is held for two hours everyday emphasises on fluency in Sanskrit speaking as the participants chant Sanskrit verses from traditional Sanskrit literature.

Organisers claim the number of participants has increased to around a thousand this year as compared to 250 in 2002. They claim more and more students, preparing for their engineering and civil services examinations, want to learn the language due to its use in entry-level interviews of these courses.

Interestingly, the workshop has also attracted many Sanskrit teachers, who say although they could understand the language they could not speak it fluently before coming here. "By coming here, (Sanskrit conversation workshop) we can now speak the language fluently and understand our culture, about what to speak and how to speak the language fluently," said Raj Mohan, a Sanskrit teacher, who attended the workshop.

Officials of the NGO say while the increase in the number of participants would help further spread the knowledge of the language, it will also help revive Indian culture.

"We can do a lot by studying the language. We can improve our ideas by conversing in the language. Moreover, by speaking in Sanskrit we can create a confidence among people that Sanskrit is an easy language and is still spoken today. I think, this will definitely improve the society's view towards the language. This is our main aim behind organising this workshop," said Sanjeev Kumar, an official of Sanskrit Bharati, the organisation behind the workshop.

Sanskrit, the mother of all Indian languages, is one of the world's richest and oldest classical languages. Sanskrit, which literally means "cultured or refined" is also considered as "Dev Bhasha" or language of the Gods in India. The grammar of this great language was laid down by Panini about two thousand years ago, which is the shortest and the fullest grammar in the world.

It is so perfect with its syntax structure that it leaves very little room for error or any ambiguity. That's why, it still follows the same frame and structure.

ANI